COLONIAL CONTINGENTS AND COLONIAL DEFENCE.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 235, 14 March 1885, Page 3

COLONIAL CONTINGENTS AND COLONIAL DEFENCE.

I cordially endorse the remarks said to have been made by the Hon. J. Ballance on the subject of raising a ISTew Zealand Contingent for the Soudan and providing for defence from foreign invasion. Patriotism, like charity, should begin at home. Since the.recent outburst of patriotic enthusiasm in New South AVales the situation has materially altered. England may at any moment be plunged into a life and death struggle with Russia, which is menacing Afghanistan, and through Afghanistan India, one of the main pillars of the British Empire. The loss o India, or, indeed, any considerable portion of it, would mark the first stage in the decline and ultimate fall of the grandest Empire on which the son ever shone. Once having gained a footing in India, the Muscovite hordes would sweep over Asia with the resistless force of a mighty torrent, and no long period would elapse before the wave would strike on these shores.

Mr Ballance believes that we could best strengthen England's hands in a great European conflict by strengthening- our own ; that if the colonies were self-defensive the mothercountry could concentrate all her enormous military and naval resources, now distributed a vast area of dependencies, for a crush - P^ig blow at her antagonist. I think every i.' sober-minded person, whose judgment is not warped by the Soudan Avar fever, will agree ■with him. When Eome became involved in a life and death struggle with barbarian hordes, which struck at the heart of the Empire, she withdrew her legions from her distant possessions and left them to shift for themselves. Under similar circumstances England would do the same. It behoves us therefore to prepare for such a contingency before it is too late. With defenceless colonies, England's strength would be dissipated in a, series of isolated operations against an enemy which, while concentrating its main strength at a vulnerable point, such as India, would be able to distract England's attention and neutralise her resources by a well-directed system of skirmishing, in. the form of piratical attacks on her commerce and predatory descents on the coasts of her distant colonies.

At Petropaulovski, and several other places on the shores of Eastern Siberia, Russia has for years past been preparing a fleet of swift cruisers, designed to swoop down upon our Indian, China, and Australian commerce. Not long since it was pointed out by eminent naval authorities that the British squadron in those seas was inadequate to cope with the Russian navy, and the fleet was reinforced. Doubtless the ships on the Indian and China station would be able to give a good account of the Russian navy as a whole, if indeed it ever ventured beyond the shelter of its shore batteries, but there would always exist the risk of several swift cruisers slipping through, suddenly entering the Australian or New Zealand ports, and levying black mail. When the relations between England and Russia were strained towards the close of the Russo -Turkish war, the Russians had matured a plan of sending crews from the Baltic to man cruisers purchased in America to prey upon the Austram commerce. The Africa, which visited kland some years ago, was one of those cruisers, and there were three others. For aught we know some of these vessels are still in the South Pacific, ready to begin the work of devastation at the'first note of war.

One can imagine the panic that would be created in Queen-street were a Russian cruiser to steal into the harbour some fine morning', with, her guns shotted and run out, ferend a boat's crew ashora .jand demand a Crushing contribution in money, "with the alternative of bombarding the city within half an hour ! Fancy the consternation that* "would be ci'eated among the bank directors and great capitalists, the blanched faces of the municipal magnates, the terror of the helpless inhabitants,' the stampede of the women and children ; protestations and appeals would be vain. Some Russian Lieutenant would sternly point to the shotted guns, and in polite language regret that his orders left no option but to enforce com-

pliance. What could the banks and companies and the great capitalists do but open their strong rooms and safes, and surrender their hoards of hard cash with wry faces ?

And then what a storm of mingled rage and grief would be raised when the Russian cruiser had quietly steamed out of the harbour to repeat the operation at the next tempting- port. Everybody, as usual in such cases, would blame everybody else. Popular indignation might revenge itself by hanging some scapegoat to the nearest lamppost. Perhaps one or more banks would break, producing general ruin, suffering, and distress. Industry would be paralysed, public confidence destroyed, the entire social system thrown out of gear. No one would care to work or to transact business when the fruits of his labour or earnings might be suddenly swept away at any moment by the visit of another Russian cruiser.

Will it be believed that while we exhibit this suicidal supineness we actually possess at this moment the means of defence. There are heavy guns lying in the Naval yard at the North Shore for land batteries at three points which have already been selected by Sir William Jervois. There is ample ammunition for those guns, there are suitable men who could be drilled to handle the guns in a few days, and there is no lack of labour to mount the guns and construct forts. The guns have lain in their present position for years. There has been a Naval Artillery without guns. Lately another corps has been formed at the North Shore, which is only armed with rifles. There is a battery of field artillery in the city which has only two sixpounder guns of an absolete pattern, though they have men enough to man six. There are five companies of volunteers, who are only indifferently drilled, and wbo, after a period of two years, have only recently been uniformed. Indeed, some of the men are not yet uniformed, armed, and accoutred.

There are scores of candidates for admission to the volunteer corps, Avho are not enrolled becaiise the Government begrudges the paltry capitation of £2 10s per man beyond a certain limited number. Out of this wretched capitation, the volunteers have to pay for uniforms, necessary accoutrements, for ammunition to expend in practice on the rifle range, gas, expenses of management, such as secretaries' fees, advertising, in short, everything. They have to put their hands in their pockets to make up the difference, as well as to sacrifice their time, and when extra daylight parades are called, they receive no payment. Mr Brycc, with his cheese-farming policy, reduced volunteering down to the limit of starvation. The Government begrudges even a paid drill-instructor for each garrison. Members of Parliament, who were scrambling and wrangling over votes for roads and bridges, and pet jobs, scoffed at the idea of maintaining an efficient force, erecting batteries, and mounting the £45,000 or £GO,OOO worth of heavy guns lying rusting in the ports.

Mr Ballance may, with impudent flippancy, I take leave to say, .stigmatise the men who have offered their services for Egypt as "mere loafers," but he cannot escape from the odium which must attach to his own negligence. When he glibly speaks of " loafers/ it may suit him to forget the time when he hawked jewellery round Mar ton and Rangitikei, or when he was glad to serve as a trooper in a volunteer cavalry corps on colonial pay. If disaster should arise from the defenceless condition of our ports, it is he who will be primarily to blame. It was his duty to have asked Parliament last session to vote the money necesseiry to put the ports in a stato of defence, and place the volunteer and militia forces of the Colony on an efficient footing. It is too late and too impudent at this stage to say: "It appears to ire that the greatest assistance which ISTew Zealand or any other colony could give England would be to put itself in a complete state of defence." Why did he not think of this during the last session of Parliament ? If war were declared between England and Russia to-morrow, our preparations for defence would have to be made hastily and imperfectly, with the risk of being surprised before they were completed.

However, it is not too late to remedy the blunder of delay and apathy. Not a moment should be lost in constructing batteries, erecting grins, enrolling and training a small but efficient permanent force at each principal post, which would form the nucleus of a larger defensive army in the event of war and danger of invasion ; in prepai'ing torpedo boats and fixing the sites for torpedoes, and generally in putting the ports in the best state of defence witli the resources and materials at our command. Much may be gained by promptitude and decision. Hesitation and apathy may entail incalculable loss.